Hookston Station Historic Exibit

Initially built from Avon to San Ramon to serve the agricultural interests of San Ramon and Diablo Valley, the line was later extended south to the community of Radum, now known as Pleasanton. The line was approximately 30 miles long and had main depots at Concord, Walnut Creek, Danville, and San Ramon. Hookston Station did not have a depot but instead a small open-air building called a "Shelter Shed" with an attached platform. Land for the Hookston Station right-of-way was donated by the Hook family, who also built one of the two sidings, a winery, and warehouse. Other buildings on the site included a saloon, fruit shed, platform, scales, and six unidentified structures. The line provided farmers and ranchers the ability to export various field and orchard crops quickly and efficiently. Residents and commercial operations also gained the ability to import items not produced in the valley such as building material and other goods. From 1891 until 1934 Southern Pacific provided both passenger and freight service, and from 1934 until the line's final abandonment in 1978, only freight service remained. After the trains stopped running, light industrial use of the Hookston Station area expanded from 1978 until 2000. Over the next 15 years commercial operations were relocated and the native landscape was planted in conformance with the Iron Horse Corridor Management Plan with funding from County Redevelopment, Park Dedication fees, and East Bay Regional Park District Measure WW Funds, with key support from Congressman Mark DeSaulnier, Supervisor Karen Mitchoff, and the Iron Horse Corridor Advisory Committee, implementation by the Contra Costa County Public Works Department, and initiation and sponsorship by Colony Park Neighbors Association.

Pleasant Hill, California · United States